


The Fastest Way to a Girl's Heart Is to Pour Cocoa on Her

by TheStoryteller13



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, mentioned Posie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStoryteller13/pseuds/TheStoryteller13
Summary: For the Hope Mikaelson Yuletide EventPrompt: Lizzie is home from school for the holidays and takes a part time job working as an elf in a mall. Her family keeps teasing her for being the only one not in a serious relationship yet, almost halfway into her twenties. What happens when she accidentally spills a hot drink on Hope Mikaelson, a renowned celebrity and daughter of a rich family?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 112





	The Fastest Way to a Girl's Heart Is to Pour Cocoa on Her

Lizzie used to love the holidays. She used to look forward to the first snowfall and the last day of school before the break. Christmas marked a time when she’d get to see her mom again and be at home with a full family for once, drinking eggnog with Josie and making fun of their parents as they tried and failed to bake cookies for the fourth time. Lizzie loved the warmth and joy the time brought her. 

The first time that changed was when Josie brought Penelope home with them and Lizzie spent the three weeks trying to get used to sharing her family time with the other woman. And then, after the second time Penelope joined them, it didn’t feel so weird anymore and instead felt to Lizzie like she was with her family again. 

Now, things have taken another turn for the worse. 

She’s twenty-five and home for the holidays again, only this time Lizzie’s short on money and, with no other options, takes a job working as an elf at the mall. Not as one of Santa’s elves, to be clear, the mall had implemented a mall-wide elf initiative and that means Lizzie gets to dress up and roller-skate around the cafeteria delivering hot chocolate to the “friendly” customers. Lizzie used to love this job, too. She used to love the outfit and the fun she had roller-skating and how many people she got to talk to. 

Now it feels lame, like she shouldn’t be the age she is and still be giving hot cocoa to overtired parents and their obnoxious kids. To make matters worse Josie and the rest of her family keep poking fun at the fact she’s the only one not in a serious relationship. She’d never tell them, but sometimes she asks herself why that is, and wonders if there’s something wrong with her. 

She’s knee deep in that thought process, absentmindedly carrying her latest hot chocolate delivery, when she fails to see the shopping bag in front of her and it catches on her skate. Her hands fly out in front of her, the cocoa flying forward as she tries to catch herself before she face plants. 

“Great.” Lizzie sighs as she rolls out her wrists and checks that she’s okay. 

“Ow.” The voice above her catches her attention. When she looks up at the woman Lizzie’s heart drops straight to her stomach and then bounces back up again. 

“Oh. My. God.” Lizzie says as she registers the hot chocolate soaking the woman’s shirt, then, “Hope Mikaelson?!”

“In the flesh.” She says, unimpressed and starting to stand. Takes some napkins off the table and starts to wipe the liquid off her arms. 

“I am so sorry, I should have been paying more attention to where I was skating,” Lizzie starts to say in a rush as she tries to pull herself up, “I mean, I _really_ didn’t mean to spill anything on you, it’s not like I’m some super fan of yours and this was my master plan to meet you and _wow_ is it hard to stand up in skates.” 

Lizzie laughs awkwardly as her skates slip around under her. Hope smiles at the sight, charmed by Lizzie’s rambling, and reaches down to help her up. Lizzie’s already taller than her, but in skates she seems to tower over Hope. And _wow,_ they’re standing far too close, with Hope’s hand still in Lizzie’s, and Lizzie is thinking about all those times as a teenager when she fantasized about meeting The Hope Mikaelson and none of those imaginations were even close to this reality. 

“Wow.” Lizzie breathes. 

“So I guess you know who I am. Who are you?” Hope asks, finally taking her hand from Lizzie’s. 

“Lizzie Saltzman.” She says, smiling bashfully. 

“Well Miss Saltzman, I need a new shirt. Wanna help me pick it out?” Hope asks, grabbing her purse and her phone from off the table. 

Lizzie nods, “Uh huh.” 

Hope smiles, starts to lead her out of the cafeteria, Lizzie awkwardly skating behind her. 

“Going somewhere, Saltzman?” A voice stops them. 

Lizzie groans as quietly as she can, starts to skate over to the source of the voice— her boss, a man named Jack— but then Hope interrupts. 

“She’s going on her lunch break.” She says with so much confidence and authority in her tone that Jack backs down immediately. 

Lizzie starts to protest but Hope just grabs her wrist and pulls her along. 

“So, what’s your favorite place to shop at?” Hope asks her. Lizzie has to take a deep breath and tell herself to relax and start acting like a normal person. 

“It’s this way.” She says, and skates ahead. 

They end up going to a new, smaller, place that Lizzie had stumbled upon in the back of the mall a few months ago. Lizzie has never liked shopping at the most popular of places, she was sort of a thrift store connoisseur. Lizzie cares a lot about her appearance and her clothes, but that doesn’t mean she likes the most expensive things or cares about the most popular brands. No, Lizzie enjoys finding forgotten or discarded things and showing the world how beautiful they can be when given the chance. Her outfits are always hand crafted and picked with care. 

So when they get to the small boutique and Hope’s eyes light up in curiosity, Lizzie takes it as a win. She files it away in the folder of things she’s going to tell Josie about when she gets home. 

“Can I ask what Hope Mikaelson is doing in small town Mystic Falls?” Lizzie asks as Hope sorts through the tops. 

“You can _ask._ ” Hope says, looking back with a smirk, then, “It’s not all that interesting, actually. My dad just has a soft spot for this town and wanted to spend Christmas here this year.” 

“Huh.” Lizzie says, “I would have thought the Mikaelson’s would be spending their Christmas in some far away, exotic place.” 

Hope laughs. Lizzie thinks it’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever heard, and her heart does a flippy thing at the fact that Hope laughed at one of _her_ jokes. 

“We’re not actually that extravagant. Mostly Christmases are spent at home in New Orleans.” Hope explains, then throws her hands up in defeat. “I don’t know what I like in here. You pick something out for me.” 

Lizzie hesitates, tries to process. Then shakes her head and gets to work. She assesses the plain jeans Hope wears and notes that she doesn’t usually wear anything too flashy. Skates through the store and picks out a couple of options before she hands them to Hope. 

“Wow.” Is all she says before finding a dressing room. 

“So why is someone like you working as a mall elf?” Hope asks from behind the curtain. 

Lizzie shrugs even though Hope can’t see her. “Just running a little low on cash this year. I’m trying to save up to buy my family something really good this year. My last few years of gifts haven’t been all that great but this year I am _determined_ to get everyone something really great.” 

Hope comes out a moment later in the black fuzzy sweater Lizzie picked out. If she’s being honest, Lizzie didn’t think Hope would pick it. She seemed more like the kind of girl that would wear one of the plain shirts Lizzie had picked. Lizzie blinks at how good the color and fit looks on Hope, then blushes when she’s caught staring. 

“I really like this. It’s so soft, feel how soft his is.” Hope says, holding out her arms to Lizzie, who runs a hand down Hope’s arm and tries not to pass out. 

“Holy wow, you’re right, that is soft!” Lizzie says, then retracts her hand before she spends five minutes stroking the other woman. 

“You’ve got a good eye.” Hope compliments, then heads over to the counter to pay. 

Lizzie isn’t sure when this turned into a hangout day with Hope Mikaelson. 

Maybe it was when she agreed to go shopping with her, or after when Hope bought them pretzels, or perhaps when she snuck into a random store and bought something secret that Lizzie is not allowed to see just yet. Lizzie kept thinking that at some point Hope would tell her to get back to her job or make some excuse to leave, but it seems like she doesn’t have a place to be today, and that for some reason she wants to spend her time with Lizzie. 

And, strangely, Lizzie’s fallen into a sort of familiarity with Hope. All her nerves and wild energy about being around a celebrity— one that she’s had a crush on for ages— seem to just slip away and then she’s galivanting through the mall with Hope as if they’ve been friends for years. 

“Come on! I want to see what you bought that’s such a secret.” Lizzie calls through the bathroom door. 

“Give me a moment!” Hope calls back. 

Sure enough, a few seconds later Hope approaches, though now she’s very shaky. Hope, now sporting a pair of roller skates herself, nearly falls over trying to exit the bathroom. Lizzie has to catch her to make sure she doesn’t, getting shaky herself, before she steadies the both of them. 

“Do you even know how to roller skate?” Lizzie asks, not daring to take her hands from Hope in case she falls over again. 

“Nope!” Hope smiles. 

Lizzie shakes her head at the absurdity, then moves her hands down to Hope’s and starts to lead her slowly away from the bathroom. Hope grips Lizzie’s hands tight, follows her through the mall, is thankful that today isn’t too crowded, so they don’t have to worry about bumping into anyone. 

They do, however, get stopped by security, and Lizzie has to make up the excuse that she’s teaching a new elf how to skate for the job, and then they’re left alone to their own devices. After a couple of minutes Hope seems to get the hang of the skating, so Lizzie downgrades from skating backwards, to skating by her side, their hands intertwined. 

“Okay.” Hope says, “Let’s go get your family some presents.” 

“What?” Lizzie shakes her head, “But I haven’t saved up enough yet.” 

“You don’t have to. I’ll pay. My treat.” Hope says. 

“You really don’t have to do that. In fact, I’ll feel bad if you do. You don’t even know me, and I spilled hot chocolate on you and now you want to help me buy my family Christmas presents?” Lizzie shakes her head. 

“Lizzie Saltzman, I think you dropping cocoa on me was the best thing to happen to me in a long while.” Hope looks at her, something in her eyes makes Lizzie’s stomach twist in a good way. “Let me do this for you.” 

“Hope—” 

She goes spiraling, taking Lizzie down with her, the two of them not paying as much attention as they should have been. Hope braces herself, hands flying out below her, and Lizzie ends up landing on top of her. She’s stuck just staring into Hope’s eyes for a moment, like swimming through the blue depths is the only thing she’s able to do. Until Hope tucks a piece of Lizzie’s hair behind her ear and she shakes herself, getting up and reaching down to help Hope up. 

When they’re steady Hope says, “Can I ask you something?” 

“Sure. Yeah.” Lizzie says, trying to figure out what to do with her hands. 

“Do you have a boyfriend… or girlfriend?” Hope’s head tilts adorably. 

Lizzie laughs awkwardly. “I don’t. And my family keeps making fun of me for not having either.” 

Hope smirks, “So I could take you out for coffee sometime?” 

Lizzie’s eyes go wide and she finds her head nodding enthusiastically. “Yes.” 

“Okay.” Hope says, takes Lizzie’s hand again— part because she needs the stability and part because she just wants to hold her hand. “Now let’s go get your family some presents.” 

Lizzie did let Hope buy the presents, after much convincing. And they did go on that coffee date. Several, actually, over the next couple weeks. And on the last one Hope says, “Take me home to your family on Christmas.” 

“What?” Lizzie asks. 

“You said they keep making fun of you for not being in a serious relationship.” Hope points out. 

“Is this a serious relationship?” Lizzie asks, reaching over the table to take Hope’s hand as a smile forms on her own lips. 

“If you want it to be.” Hope says. 

“I want it to be.” Lizzie says, then, “Do you?” 

“I do.” Hope says. 

“Then I guess you’re coming to meet my family on Christmas.” 

And she does. Lizzie shows up to the house with Hope Mikaelson and her family absolutely loses it. Though, after the initial shock, they welcome Hope into the family seamlessly. And then Christmas feels like Christmas again. The Saltzman house feels warm and full of life and love and Lizzie doesn’t have to suffer her family’s teasing anymore. She feels happy. Lizzie Saltzman can say she loves the holidays again, maybe now more so when she looks to her side and finds Hope laughing at something Alaric has said. 

She thinks it’s absolutely perfect. 


End file.
